5 years ago...I remember

[beam]

I remember waking up. I had decided to sleep in since my son, our fourth child, was born 12:30 am, Sept. 11, 2001. I got home around 2:30 am and couldn't sleep. The adrenaline from watching a baby be born was still in my vains. Finally I dozed off.

Up the next morning, I don't know what time. Time at that point wasn't important for me. I had the day off from work, I was going straight to the hospital to see my wife and new son. The rest of my kids were with their grandma and grandpa.

As I drive to the hospital, I casually flip the radio on to break the silence. What is this? Where's the music? Is this a joke?

I couldn't figure out what was going on, all I could think of was when they did a War of the Worlds radio presentation way back when...and everybody thought it was real. Certainly this could not be real. The things they were saying...unbelievable.

I got to the hospital and as I made my way back to the birthing center, I could tell something was wrong. Every waiting room I walked by had groups of people huddled around the television. Finally, I decided to stop and see what they were looking at. Unbelievable.

I stood and watched replays of a jet flying into a building. As the details came out through the broadcast, I didn't know what to think. No one was really talking, just watching. And then I remembered why I was even at the hospital...a new baby.

I finally arrived a the door to my wife's room and as I opened it, I wondered if she knew what was going on. As I came around the corner, I figured she didn't. There she was, sitting up in bed. The curtains were drawn and the sun was shining down on her and Caedmon, my new son. I tell you, it was angelic. I walked over to her and shut the outside world out, and focused on the little bundle of wrinkles and grunts. He had no idea the world he was born into.

He's starting to learn now at the age of 5.

I got up this morning and celebrated a son's 5th birthday. But in the back of my mind, I was replaying that day 5 years ago.

So how about you? Post your "I remember" and tell us what you were doing that morning.

[CKY_Alliance]

I was in school..and didnt know it happened till a couple hours after..then we pretty much watched it for the rest of the day. I remeber we had a substitute for like half the year and she was hispanic and didnt give a danm what happened..or i think she didnt even know/didnt care..and we where *****ing at her to let us watch it...bout all i remember

[gibby]

I remember waking up and turning on my computer and logging onto AO. I saw a thread on it and was like is this a joke? I turned on the TV and was amazed at what I was watching. I don't think it sank in and I felt kind of numb, or more like in a haze of what I just saw. But feeling a bit confused, I still drove myself to work feeling weird during the whole drive. Got to work, it was so quiet and I sat on my computer still wondering. Next thing, we get an email stating that because of the events, work was out for the day and we were encouraged to say a prayer. After returning back home, I think I was glued to the TV just trying to keep up with what was going on. Definitely not a day I will forget.

[BobTheCow]

That day was easily the scariest of my life. Not because I was conerned for myself; living in northern Virginia, I knew that if there were more attacks to come that day I'd be out of the way. But knowing that my dad was working in DC, often in the Pentagon, and not being able to get ahold of him all day was nerve-racking. Knowing that I had dozens of friends and family members in DC, not to mention the parents and siblings of people that were close to me, was nerve-racking. Cell phones weren't working for a while. I was only a freshman in high school; had I been able to drive, I would've been on my way home to be with my mom and hope for word from my dad.

I was lucky. My dad made it home that night, and so did my brother. The same can't be said for several parents of my classmates. I must've gone through some sort of catharsis that night, because as clear as my memory of September 11 is, I have no recollection of the 12th. I know that school was cancelled, and I was completely emotionless. Beyond that, nothing. The sadness and disbelief came on the 11th, the pain and the rage came in the following weeks.

I'm not one to get overly emotional about, well, anything, but September 11 still pains me to think about. The fear and the grief and the anger and the helplessness all combined in a crushing sensation, and the entire experience was nothing short of surreal. I wouldn't wish such a traumatic blizzard of emotions on my worst enemy, and yet we all lived it firsthand.

Somebody in another thread (another forum?) said it best, we need to do more than remember. We need to reflect. After five years, there have arisen more questions than there have answers. In respect to those lost on that day, and to those lost to related reasons in the following years, we must not lose sight of the importance of the September 11 tragedies, and more importantly, our reactions to them.


e: In my emo rage I totally forgot about the OP. Beam, that was a fantastic story, thanks so much for being able to share.

[Pneumagger]

I was in honors math class. We were watching it on TV. I think it was the first time no one made a sound in the whole school. I remember seeing the second plane hit and the first building falling later that day in other classes. All you could do was watch...

I think it was the most awkward day of my life. Like, the day went on, and normal things happened, but it was all just going through the motions. It didn't really sink in unyil a day or so later.

[skife]

i was in a computer class, in 9th grade, didn't belive it was happening until i saw it on the today show in class.
it was interesting.

[behemoth]

I was in studyhall.

I got a note from the office for early dismissial, i didnt know why i was being called out, my mom got all paranoid and took me out of school, and we sat at home....

[PumpPlayer]

I was in my second year at USMMA and walking into 2nd period class, English II in Samuels Hall.

At the top of the waterfront side stairwell of Samuels, there is a large picture window overlooking the Long Island Sound, the Throgs Neck Bridge and, beyond it, Manhattan. I'm going to guess it's around 15 miles away, but I don't know exactly. The WTC and Empire State buildings are plainly visible on a clear day (which it was), though they appear quite small at that distance.

I had reached the top of the stairs and rounded the corner without paying much attention when someone said that, hey, the WTC is on fire! The other 17 people in my section and I huddled around this window and just stared at what was a rising cloud of black smoke from the WTC. Someone had noted that the smoke was thick and black, indicating a fuel fire. It didn't make sense until we saw a tiny little plane, no bigger than it appears when they fly overhead at 30,000 feet, crash into the second tower and let out what looked to us to be a struck match's worth of flame.

The only real emotion I can remember is anger. Not rage or uncontrolled hatred but calculating, intelligent anger. "How dare they!", I thought, without even knowing who 'they' was. Then I thought of all the people that, just maybe, we might be able to help out.

I was a licensed NY EMT at the time and I went to our squad room and waited with the other members of the squad (perhaps 30-40 people at the time). They told us to go to the boathouse and wait for orders. If they needed help, they'd send us over by boat because vehicular traffic had no chance of getting through. Sitting on a concrete floor in the dark clutching a jump bag while watching a small TV with 50 other people doing exactly the same thing is all I remember from that day. After the towers collapsed, the scene leaders changed tactics as it became increasingly difficult to find survivors. They put us on indeffinite stand-by and told us to try and get some sleep because we might be working all night. I actually slept for all of about 10 minutes curled up in some life jackets. After 7 WTC fell sometime before dinner, they told us to stand down but that they'd be in touch if they needed help. As it turned out, we helped with debris removal and cleanup, though I didn't personally go. I was in the medical supply/triage center they had set up and never used. I'll admit the refrigerated containers they had brought in made me just a little nervous. They never recovered many bodies and the containers went unused. Of course we had all sorts of ceremonies and medals passed out but... it's an empty pleasure to get a piece of ribbon when other people were killed.

I also got some award for helping Enduring Freedom. I was part of a crew delivering jet fuel for bombers based out of the Pacific. Then I went to Antarctica. Hardly noteworthy, but that's my story. I've never posted it on the internet before and I've never told anyone that wasn't there along with me more than a few cursory statements. Why don't I tell people? Because I don't want them to think I actually was able to do something. I wasn't. I sat around waiting and nothing ever happened. In a way, I'm glad they didn't need me or the rest of the squad but part of me wishes that we could have helped out more than we did.

[fire1811]

So how about you? Post your "I remember" and tell us what you were doing that morning.

Crying
A lot of good people died that day.
I lost 343 brothers R.I.P.

[punkncat]

Driving to a job in Atlanta. The report came over the radio that an airplane had just struck one of the towers.
I remember thinking "How could a plane not see the World Trade Center?"

By the time we got to the job the other two planes had struck and there was tangible fear in the air from everyone around. Atlanta being a major air hub with strong military and medical presence it seemed like it could be targeted.

I remember seeing all those people in Afganistan cheering about the news and how it made me feel almost sorry for them. To be so misinformed into thinking that this was a good thing.

The strangest part for me was seeing the sky completly empty of planes. The Skies in Atlanta are always full of planes and trails. The noise of them is a background noise that we have all grown accustomed to and was errie to be missing.

[Eagle]

In the Navy. My ship was in drydock at the Norfolk Naval Ship Yard, and I was in one of the aft Main Ballast Tanks painting some gear when my Senior Chief stuck his head up through the grate and said the 2 planes had just hit the Trade Center. No details beyond that. I remember thinking it was A) one hell of a freak accident B) Osama BinLaden or C) China.